Fish ferment in Weyerhaeuser pools
By NANCY MARSHALL
Of the Emerald
A forest products company,
well-known for growing fir trees,
has hatched another natural re
source renewal project — that of
raising salmon.
In May of 1977 Weyerhaeuser
Company began construction of a
salmon hatchery just outside of
Springfield, southeast of the
Hayden Bridge on Marcola road. It
was completed in January of this
year.
A tall fence encloses the large
gray square swimming pool-like
tanks which make up the hatch
ery. A few are filled with water
now. An office building set near
the tanks stands nearly com
pleted.
Weyerhaeuser personnel hope
this in time will become the
nation’s largest privately owned
salmon hatchery.
In 1975 they bought out Oregon
Aqua Foods, which had been rais
ing and selling pan-sized fish.
Aqua Foods, now fully maintained
as a subsidiary of Weyerhaeuser,
operates the project, at a cost of
$10 million.
Six million dollars of the total
was used to construct the hatch
ery, $2 million went to a facility in
Newport and $2 million went to a
facility in Coos Bay.
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Page 12
Eggs to become salmon steaks
Photo by Qrag QawtowaM
These newly constructed fish tanks just outside Springfield will soon be spawning small salmon, as a result
of a new Weyerhauser profit venture. After reaching fingerling size in the tanks, the salmon will be given a
short vacation in the sea, called back home and eaten.
“The company hopes to release
80 million salmon in the next 10
years—mostly coho and Chinook,
and a smaller number of chum,”
says Jim Bradbury, public affairs
manager for Weyerhaeuser.
The company purchases the
tiny salmon eggs for the hatchery.
A few trays filled with the BB-sized
fish eggs are incubating in the
tanks now. Here they will grow
until they’re smelt size—about six
inches. These tiny eggs will reach
their smelt-like length in six
months instead of the 18 it nor
mally takes.
The fish grow in purified water.
Before fish are put in the tanks,
water from the nearby paper mill,
and the McKenzie are mixed,
creating a cool water environ
ment.
The release-recapture site is
something like a large swimming
pool, enclosing the fish for two or
three weeks and imprinting in
them a memory to return from the
ocean when they’ve matured.
Then they are set free to cruise in
the ocean for two to four years.
This water-mix will be an ideal
environment for the fish — better
than any natural spot, according
to Bradbury.
When the fish reach about six
inches in length, they take a trip to
the beach by truck. A release
recapture site is now located at
Newport and another site will be
constructed sometime this spring
at Coos Bay.
Once they grow to maturity the
fish will, in a sense, smell their way
back to the swimming pool. Aqua
Foods will net the salmon in the
tank and sell them to commercial
markets.
Eventually, eggs from the
spawning salmon will be taken
and brought back to the hatchery
to make the cycle complete.
During their cruising period in
the ocean, the salmon become
fair game to anyone — fishermen
will hook a portion and many will
become a part of the food chain.
This spring Weyerhaeuser
hopes to release five million coho
salmon from Newport and in a few
years recover about two percent
of those.
March 1 marks the official dedi
cation day for the new salmon
hatchery. Among those observing
will be Gov. Bob Straub.
Senior issues discussed
on television health series
By KEVIN HARDEN
Of the Emerald
Lane County senior citizens
health problems will be the focus
of a new year-long television
series beginning the last week in
February.
According to Jim Davis, execu
tive director of the Lane County
Gray Panthers, the new television
series will attempt to present vari
ous health issues facing area
senior citizens and will provide in
formation on the types of services
available for those who need
health care.
The series will consist of 11
30-minute programs that cover top
ics ranging from general health
problems to denture care, Davis
says.
The series, which is sponsored
in part by the Eugene Commission
on Aging, the county’s Gray
Panthers and the Oregon State
Council on Senior Advocacy, will
be aired by KOZY-TV the last
Sunday of each month at 1 p.m.
Bill Dwyer of the television station,
says. The first program will be
shown Saturday.
The series is the first of its kind
to focus specifically on senior citi
zens’ health problems, Davis ex
plains. Although other radio and
TV series have covered senior
problems, none have attempted to
answer some of the questions the
new program will answer, he says.
Davis and the Gray Panthers
organization have sponsored a
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similar radio-TV show, Senior
Perspectives, which has dealt
with broader issues than just
health care, Davis says. "Senior
Perspectives has been quite suc
cessful. There are a lot of people
watching, but there is so much to
cover in the health area, that we
just couldn’t do it on one show."
Davis and the Gray Panthers
received nearly six hours of air
time for the rest of the year from
KOZY-TV as part of the station's
public service broadcasting re
quirement, Dwyer says. The time
is worth $60 in air time costs, he
says.
The shows, which will cover top
ics from general health care to
longevity, will consist of a
question-and-answer format with
local physicians, nurses and nu
tritionists.
The first program will focus on
general health topics, Davis says.
The questions that will be asked
during the program will include
whether professional health care
personnel look far enough into the
everyday health problems of
seniors and whether problems
such as economic insecurity and
isolation affect a senior’s health.
Other shows, which will con
tinue through December, will focus
on Community Health services
and the help they offer, Medicare
problems, physical fitness, senior
dental care and nutrition for
seniors.
Taping for the first program will
begin later this week, Davis says.
Tuesday, February 21, 1978